The present invention relates generally to film adhesives. More particularly, the present invention relates to protective floor film adhesives.
Floor care programs today are primarily used to both protect and/or enhance the appearance of a floor substrate, such as vinyl, marble, terrazzo, ceramic, linoleum, wood, etc. floor substrates. Floor care programs can include many different types of products, but generally involve the use of a sealer and/or finish applied to the surface of the floor substrate. This finish can be maintained with the use of cleaners and tools, which can include various buffing or burnishing machines. Although these programs are effective, they are considered a large expense to customers. Additionally, if a surface becomes worn or unsatisfactory over time, it is necessary to entirely remove the floor substrate, to provide a new fresher look to the floor.
Polymer-based floor coatings are an example of finishes that are typically applied as an aqueous emulsion or solvent solution that dries to a hard film. After months of exposure to traffic, such finishes become scratched, scuffed and soiled to a point where they need to be completely removed from the floor and a new finish applied. The removal of these coatings from floors has traditionally required the use of chemical solutions, typically mixtures of alkalis and volatile solvents. These chemical mixtures can be generally unpleasant and messy to use. In addition, some highly cross-linked polymer-based floor coatings are difficult, if not impossible to remove by any means other than physical abrasion.
While pressure sensitive adhesives have been used in the past to apply a variety of films to substrates, pressure sensitive adhesives have not been described that enable the successful application of a protective film to a floor substrate, such that the protective film provides an immediate and clear application while also providing long-term removability and environmental stability to the film product.